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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28267164">It's the Most Stressful Time of the Year</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stronglyobsessed/pseuds/Stronglyobsessed'>Stronglyobsessed</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Eggsyobsessed's Christmas Giveaway [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingsman (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Boys Kissing, Christmas Fluff, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, First Christmas, Fluff, Gift Giving, M/M, Silly Men in Love, Smitten Eggsy Unwin, Smitten Merlin, Worried Eggsy Unwin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:01:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,562</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28267164</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stronglyobsessed/pseuds/Stronglyobsessed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Eggsy and Merlin's first Christmas as a couple, and Eggsy is worried what to get a man who essentially has it all. After weeks of worry, countless advice from good friends like Roxy and Harry, Eggsy decides on a simple jumper, knowing Merlin appreciates the practical things. Yet he can't seem to shake the nerves that wreck his body, on Christmas day, concerned his gift is TOO predicable, and the sensible jumper will ruin what should be perfect. </p><p>But, of course, the day of he couldn't have been more wrong, when Merlin proves its the little things that make Christmas perfect.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Merlin/Gary "Eggsy" Unwin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Eggsyobsessed's Christmas Giveaway [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2053317</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>52</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It's the Most Stressful Time of the Year</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/naru894/gifts">naru894</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For Naru894 who requested: Hello, if the gift fic raffle is still on i would love to participate, lets try luck with #8 and christmas cuddles.</p><p>Sorry this is late, and I'm SO behind! But work and life has been rather busy, I promise to get these done before the New Year!</p><p>Happy Holidays!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What do you get a smart as fuck, witty and sexy bloke like Merls?” Roxy looked up, brow raised in a peculiar expression, from her paperwork to give Eggsy her brief attention. It lasted about as long as his sentence took to speak, before she focused back as if he’d never entered without knocking. “Like…” Eggsy flopped down onto her 100% Italian black leather chaise, lounged about dramatically like one of those birds in them fancy paintings, and sighed. “Got the world at his fingertips, yeah? Those long, talented fingertips,” he added huskily, feeling a bit flushed by the thought of Merlin’s digits.</p><p>Roxy scoffed. “You’re so disgustingly in love.” She scrunched her nose, as if the very idea of Merlin and Eggsy repulsed her; she were crazy.</p><p>“Doesn’t help my dilemma, Rox.” Eggsy scrolled through Amazon. He had two weeks to find the perfect gift. But when you had everything at your disposal, what on Earth could one possibly need? “Could get him a new jumper,” he mused. “Found a few with holes in them.” Eggsy frowned. “No. Not on Amazon.”</p><p>“What?” Roxy popped her head over the monitor. “You want to give the bloody Quartermaster of Kingsman, a bloody polyester blend jumper? Have Andrew make one, has his measurements, doesn’t he?” Eggsy stuck his tongue out, like the juvenile he were. “It isn’t like you need to be a nutter about it all.”</p><p>“Fuck off, yeah? Since when you got a fifty year old, smart as fuck, man as your boyfriend?” Roxy just stared at him, her silence deafening. Eggsy waved a hand, dismissing her bland expression. “Yeah I know, birds only. But still…” Eggsy trailed off, frowning to himself.</p><p>He thought it’d be easy, right? Merlin was a man of simple, but precise, taste that Eggsy THOUGHT he had figured out. The man liked green, golds, soft and comfy throws to go with a rather cozy home. A jumper would be perfect, so long as it weren’t department store trash, like Roxy so politely pointed out, and maybe Andrew’d have a enough time to whip one up. Knowing the old man, he likely had a stash in Merlin’s measurements when the Scot decided to give up the holey, sad as fuck, garments he wore day in and out.</p><p>“Why don’t you ask Harry?” Roxy offhandedly suggested. “They’re best mates, should know a thing or two.” She shrugged.</p><p>That WAS an option Eggsy could work with.</p><p>“Yeah. Maybe I will. Thanks.” He popped up, ruffled her hair just to piss her off, and ran out the room before the knife she threw could peg his calf, and hit the closed door.</p><p>Except Harry weren’t any more assistance that Roxy had been.</p><p>“A nice bottle of Gin,” Harry offered, as he poured said referenced bottle of alcohol for two martinis. “That always makes me happy.” He sat, the picture of poise and ease, at the head of the dining room table.</p><p>Arthur suited him well, much more than the title Galahad ever could. Or so Eggsy’d been told. Which could honestly be a biased opinion by Merlin since Harry took the position, freeing Merlin as his handler only to work beside him. Presumably giving Merlin a few more anxieties to deal with aside from keeping the man alive.</p><p>“Merlin ain’t a Gin guy, Haz.” Eggsy eyed the clear alcohol, swirling and settling in the crystal glass. “It ain’t even ten.” He grimaced. Aside from the time, his last run in with Gin left a bitter taste on his tongue, churning his stomach in reminder of the night he nearly died.</p><p>Worst hangover he’d ever had.</p><p>“Posh.” Harry waved a dismissive hand. “Everyone loves a good Gin martini.” Eggsy raised a brow at his former mentor. Harry shrugged. “A jumper,” he suggested after a moment of consideration. “He’s due for a new one anyway. Just see Andrew.”</p><p>Eggsy sagged, feeling defeated. “Wanted to be more original than that!” He whined. “It’s our first proper Christmas, yeah? Going to his flat and everything once I’m finished at mum’s!” Everything was over rather quickly at his mother’s. What with a five year old and all, one who couldn’t wait for Father Christmas to fill her stocking, leave parcels in festive wrapping beneath the tree, and consume cookie cutters. “Can’t cock this up,” he added sullenly, a pout formed on his lips.</p><p>Harry sighed, finished his drink, and came to sit right beside Eggsy. “You won’t. Hamish loves you for you, not what you can give him, hm?” He patted Eggsy’s shoulder reassuringly, attempting to quell the nerves Eggsy could hardly contain. “It’s not the gift, but the thought that counts.”</p><p>“You read that somewhere, didn’t you?”</p><p>Harry laughed, settling back into his seat, and reached for Eggsy’s untouched beverage. “Read it in a poetry book,” he admitted with a sly grin. “Oliver recommended it,” he added after a few moments of silence on Eggsy’s part.</p><p>“Ah! That makes more sense.” Eggsy nodded. He watched Harry drain the second glass. “You’re going to end up with cirrhosis.”</p><p>“Genetically impossible.”</p><p>“Wot? How the fuck is that even a thing?” Functional alcoholic he were, sure, but immune to damage done to his liver? Eggsy thought not. “Unless you have a stone liver,” he muttered to himself.</p><p>“Precisely, my boy!” Harry squeezed Eggsy thigh, gave it a few pats, and stood to take his rightful seat. “Try not to worry, Eggsy. Hamish is a simple man, past all the intricate layers.”</p><p>“That’s what I was afraid of.” The bloke were like an onion, except without the rank smell, you had to peel back several layers to find the heart. “Thanks.” Eggsy smiled and let himself out to find Andrew.</p><p>Turned out the tailor was his only option.</p><p>After what felt like days, when it were really a few hours, they came up with a color blend of wool and cotton that would be breathable, warm and comfy for Merlin. Eggsy left that night with the promise it would be done in a week's time, and he weren’t too surprised when Andrew had it wrapped, waiting for him in his office five days later. Eggsy made sure to leave a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc on his work station in thanks.</p><p>At least the old man had great taste in wine.</p><p>And before he knew it, Christmas arrived with little to no notice, leaving Eggsy to rush in his preparations for his mum’s, to be ready for Merlin’s shortly after.</p><p>“You look nice, babe.” Michelle winked as Daisy tore through her gifts, and smoothed back a stray lock Eggsy missed when styling his hair. “Going to see that man of yours?” His mum didn’t hide her pleasure, it radiated off of her without effort. “Should have invited him here,” she went on to offer.</p><p>“No!” Eggsy damn near shouted. “No,” he followed up with, tone softer. “It’s our first, mum...wanted to do that sort of thing alone, yeah?”</p><p>Michelle’s eyes warmed, adding a bright glow to her striking blue eyes. Where they were once dulled and hollow from drug use and verbal abuse, they now shined like the rays from the sun. It was beautiful to witness her sobriety and transformation into a woman who valued herself, and found solace in caring for others.</p><p>Eggsy paid for her nurse aide training, wanting her to do all she could to find herself again, and if that was part of the journey? Well, Eggsy was a delighted supporter of her road to recovery.</p><p>“That’s nice.” She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m so proud of you, babe.” Eggsy took her face, cupping it in one hand, thumb trailed down her cheek to catch a fallen tear. “Your dad would be, too,” she whispered. Since Dean’s not so sad demise, she openly spoke of Lee more than Eggsy ever heard in his life. He learned so much of the man whose face he wore each day, and grew to find love for the wonderful person who only briefly got to touch Eggsy’s life.</p><p>“I know, mum.” Eggsy pulled her to his chest and pecked the top of her head.</p><p>“I love you,” she murmured against his neck. “So much.” Michelle pressed a kiss to his cheek, as she eased away to clean his face of the tears that littered his cheeks.</p><p>Eggsy beamed at her. “I love you too.” Before either of them could share another tender word, Daisy popped up from the floor to thrust the Doc McStuffins doll in their faces.</p><p>At the end of it all, full of a Christmas roast with savory butter scones and pudding that was packed away for Eggsy and Merlin to share, Michelle tightened his scarf and gave him a kiss.</p><p>“Have a good time, yeah? Tell Hamish Happy Christmas from us.”</p><p>“Yeah! Happy Christmas to Hammy!” Daisy shouted from the sitting room. “Bye Egg! Love you!”</p><p>“Love you babe.” Michelle smacked a big kiss against his cheek. “No go!” She shoved him out the door before he could stall any longer.</p><p>It weren’t like he hadn’t been to Merlin’s before, spent the night or even a few days, so he couldn’t quite justify his nerves, but he were nervous as fuck. Eggsy tried to shake them off, even took a shot of the single serve bottles in his cab; whisky was a good idea. The alcohol just started to mellow him when the cab pulled up, with a quick thank you and his heart in his throat, Eggsy headed up the drive with his gift.</p><p>“Eggsy! Happy Christmas!” Merlin enthused brightly, yanking him into the foyer for a hard, bruising kiss that took the oxygen right from his lungs. “Ye look stunning, lad.” He breathed against his lips, nipping the bottom a bit before he took him in for another deep, hard snog.</p><p>Eggsy’s brains were thoroughly scrambled by the time he surfaced from the exchange, swooning into Merlin’s chest—as if he had anywhere else to go—and giggled breathlessly.</p><p>“Happy Christmas,” he muttered, once he could find words; brain to mouth function was broken. “You look...nice,” Eggsy sighed. Real smooth, Unwin; Eggsy mentally chided.</p><p>Merlin chuckled, placing the lightest of kisses to his nose. “Thank you.” He let Eggsy go, but kept an arm wrapped around his waist, and led him into the flat. “Drink?”</p><p>“Hm?” Eggsy floated through the sitting room to place Merlin’s present beneath the tree. “Oh. Drink. Yeah.” He smiled up at him. Merlin shook his head with a fond smile and left, returning with two mugs. Suddenly his nose was filled with cloves, cinnamon and berries. “Thanks, babe.” He inhaled steam billowing from a red mug with pugs all over it. A gift from Merlin the first night he spent here.</p><p>“I figured a simple cheese tray and sweets would do? I know ye had dinner with your mum.” Merlin said from his spot on the sofa. “You okay, lad?” He watched Eggsy, no doubt aware of the unease Eggsy sent off in waves. “Is everything alright with your mother and sister?” Worry and concern thick in his brogue the longer it took Eggsy to answer.</p><p>“Yeah! No, they’re good!” Eggsy took a healthy sip of mulled wine, barely enjoying the taste as it scolded his tongue. “Fuck! Hot!”</p><p>“Lad…” Merlin bit his lip, staving off a smirk, and took the mug from him. “Just came out of the slow cooker, aye? Come. Sit and watch White Christmas with me.” It was Eggsy’s favorite, a film Merlin agreed to despite Eggsy’s constant warning he’d likely sing through the entire thing.</p><p>“Sorry.” He had no idea what he apologized for. Maybe because he were acting like a complete nutter?</p><p>Merlin dragged him over and onto the sofa where he hugged him close, cuddled up beneath a throw Merlin draped over them. “Nothing to be sorry for.” He assured and turned the movie on where Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye tap danced for the audience to see.</p><p>“You have a nice voice.” Eggsy murmured into his neck, nuzzling his nose there, to leave a tender kiss against his jugular. Merlin hummed through most of it, not as boisterous and lively as Eggsy, but softly in his baritone voice. “Sounds nice.” The action vibrated through his chest, adding warmth with how cozy Eggsy had become.</p><p>His earlier shot of Whisky, and consumption of his cooled mulled wine, relaxed him enough to enjoy the evening.</p><p>“Not as lovely as yer’s.” Merlin quietly argued, caressing Eggsy’s arm while the film finished. “Feel better?” His lips traced Eggsy’s jawline, leaving hot imprints in their wake, up his cheeks and over his mouth to capture Eggsy in an unprepared, yet completely welcome, kiss.</p><p>“Mmmm.” Eggsy hummed into his mouth. “A bit,” he said. “Sorry about that,” he added. Eggsy leaned back, gazing lazily up at Merlin, to see warm, soft hazel eyes crinkled with a lopsided grin Eggsy loved so much. “Bit nervous,” he admitted. Merlin frowned a bit at that, a hand slipped through Eggsy’s hair to cup the back of his neck, angling him to look at Merlin proper. “Wanted our first Christmas to be perfect, yeah?”</p><p>“It is,” Merlin answered confidently.</p><p>Now it was Eggsy’s turn to look puzzled. “You haven’t even opened your gift yet.”</p><p>Despite the weight of Eggsy’s anxiety, Merlin laughed, a low rumbly sound that reverberated through Eggsy’s chest.</p><p>“I don’t need a gift.” It was a simple statement. Merlin’s thumb ghosted the path of his hairline, drawing gooseflesh with every stroke. “My Christmas is perfect just like this.” He held Eggsy a little tighter to his side. “Snuggled up with the tree on, Christmas movies that make ye happy, and you.”</p><p>Every ounce of apprehension slipped from Eggsy’s body with a large exhale. His earlier doubt that his gift would be trivial and predictable, eased away with Merlin’s declaration. Of course he wouldn’t care about anything other than Eggsy, their time spent together, and his happiness. Because he was with a selfless man, one who gave his life to an agency, ensuring others were safe and smart on assignment, and developed tech that provided them security and simplicity.</p><p>“I love you.” Eggsy whispered, once again unable to find his voice, and lifted up to initiate affection. The kiss was soft and tender, bleeding warmth and love through lips and into hearts.</p><p>Merlin leaned in, eager and greedy for more. Which, of course, Eggsy was all too willing to give.</p><p>“I love you, too,” Merlin vowed. He stole another breath from Eggsy, littering his lips with his own as he slowly shifted away. “But I would like the present, too,” he winked, mirth and cheek bright in his eyes.</p><p>Eggsy gave him a playful shove, and settled back into comforting arms. “Cheeky,” he fondly accused.</p><p>Merlin hummed as they snuggled in for another film: The Muppet Christmas Carol. “I learned from the best.”</p><p>He hummed an agreement, sagging further into Merlin’s side, and watched the film in sated bliss. It wasn’t long after they finished the second movie, of their Christmas film watch list—yes Merlin made a list and Eggsy loved him for it—did they decide to exchange gifts. And despite Eggsy’s reservations in regards of his gift, Merlin loved the olive green, with flecks of gold, cable knit jumper. </p>
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